In This Mess
by avery-lainey
Summary: This is my take on how Jane ended up in Howes, and the events of season two in her point of view.


**I've really wanted to write a story about how Jane ended up in Howes, so here it is x]**

**This story is going to go through the end of season 2 in (kinda) Jane's POV. The _whole_ story is _not_ rated M. There are just a few parts, and I'll warn you when they come up. **

* * *

><p>She had been walking for weeks, now running low on food. It was late afternoon. She was still covered in the guts she'd used to pass through a herd a few days prior.<p>

She emerged from the forest into a parking lot in front of a large building. She looked around until her eyes landed on a sign. _Howes Hardware_. From a distance, it seemed abandoned, and Jane thought there may be weapons. She walked along the edge of the thicket and cautiously approached the side of the building.

There was a flimsy wooden wall surrounding the small shops beside the hardware store. She stood on her toes and peeked over the fence. The shops within the wall were boarded up as well. Jane pulled on one of the sections, trying to tug it down. Without success.

Jane was adamant to get in, so she decided to climb over the fence. She placed her foot on the one of the ridges in the wall and hurled herself up. Once she reached the top of the thin barrier, the support beam on the opposite side cracked from her weight. Jane fell to the ground, the wood and metal sheets of the barricade falling on top of her. "Shit." She murmured.

"The fuck was that?!" She heard from above. She looked up to the roof and saw a man and woman staring down at her. "Is that a walker?" The woman said. "Doesn't look like one. I'm gonna go check it out." The man replied.

Jane pushed the pieces of the fence off of her and sat up. As she stood up, a door slammed open, and the man from the roof stormed over to her. "God fucking damn it!" He barked when he saw the wrecked fence. He jerked his head up to her. "The fuck were you doin'?" Jane noticed the gun in his hand and fingered the pistol at her side. "Answer me!" She said nothing and narrowed her eyes at him. He glared back at her, and roughly grabbed her arm. Jane lurched away, but she couldn't free herself from his grip.

He practically dragged her into the hardware store. She looked around, impressed by the stacks of canned and bagged food. People passed, holding guns and staring at her. A few of them wrinkled their noses at the horrid stench that engulfed her body. She was pulled up a flight of stairs that led to an office. The man slammed open the door and pushed her in.

There was an older man sitting at the desk, running through a stack of papers. He turned when he heard the door burst open. He raised his eyebrows and stood to greet Jane. She hesitated to enter the room and backed up. The man who'd lugged her up there dug the tip of his gun into her back, forcing her forward. He stepped forward and pulled her gun and knife out of their pouches.

Jane spun back and attempted to snatch her weapons from him, but he pointed his gun at her. She crossed her arms and glared at him. '_Asshole'._ She thought.

"That's enough, Troy." The older man told him. The younger immediately obeyed. "Who is this?"

"I dunno, but she broke the fuckin' fence 'round the expansion." Troy replied. "Get Reggie and Michael to fixin' it." The older man ordered him. He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

He sat back down and smiled at Jane, motioning her to the chair opposite of him. She stared, her arms still crossed.

"Alright, don't sit." He said with a scowl on his face. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He asked, becoming annoyed with her.

"Jane." She mumbled. "Well, Jane, My name's Bill. Bill Carver, and we have a bit of a problem with you coming in and destroying our defenses."

"Look, I'm sorry for fucking your shit up. Now give me my things back so I can leave." Jane demanded firmly. "I'm afraid we can't do that… We need more people to work on that wall you so _kindly_ destroyed, so lemme make you a deal." Jane scowled, already deciding not to accept his _deal_.

"We have food and a very secure place for you to stay. We'd be happy to share this with you in exchange for labor." Carver offered. Jane scoffed. "No thanks, I'd rather just leave and _not _be someone's fucking servant." Carver stood up and stomped over to Jane, staring her down. She returned his scowl with an even more vicious one, daring him to say something. He stepped away from her and grabbed the radio on his desk. "Troy, get in here." He said.

Troy was in Carver's office in less than a minute. "Yeah, Bill?" He asked as he walked through the door. Carver scowled at Jane. "I need you to take this… _young lady_ to the pen." He said angrily. "Will do." Troy agreed, grabbing Jane's arm again.

"Don't fucking touch me." Jane snapped, ripping her arm from his grip. He clutched her again, with more force this time. Jane withheld a grunt of pain as she was pulled out of the office. Troy pushed her down the ramp, almost making her fall flat on her face. He drags her to a large door and pulls it up. She is shoved in.

Jane tries to run away once he lets go, but he'd already closed the door. So she rammed into it. She kicks and punches the door until she realizes there is no way to get it open. The door was meant to prevent shoplifters; her miniscule strength would _never_ knock it down.

She stepped away from the door, breathing heavily and cursing under her breath. "Um. Hello."

She whipped around and widened her eyes intimidatingly at the stranger. He was an Indian man with one arm. She glared at him and walked past to the fence of her prison. The man scratched his head. "Not big on welcomes…" He murmured.

Jane pushed the wooden boards, but they were nailed tight. _She could climb it… _She looked up at the top of the fence. _Barbed wire. Shit. _

Exhausting all her options, Jane tried to squeeze through an opening in the bars. She heard snickers from behind her. Three men were staring at her like she was an idiot. "Sweetheart, that ain't gon' work." The shortest and oldest of the three said. He had a strong, scratchy southern accent. He had a long scar across his left cheek, and his nails were cracked and dirty. His hair was long and black with patches of gray; his beard was the same. " 'S nailed up good. An' I think yer ears are too big for ya t' squeeze through." He was trying to lighten the mood, but it just angered Jane. She'd always been teased for her 'Dumbo ears'.

She glared at the strangers. In addition to the old man and the Indian man, there was a third. He had dark skin and was probably a foot taller than her. Not wanting to deal with more people in this hellish place, she continued looking around for ways to escape.

Jane noticed a broken ladder and a few bags of soil. She dragged the heavy bags underneath the ladder one at a time until there were none left. Once her stack was complete, she stood on top of them and tried to jump up to the ladder. Without success. "Hey!" Troy barked when he saw her. "Get the fuck down from there!" Jane obeyed because there was a gun pointed at her. "Reggie, c'mere." The Indian man, who Jane now knew was Reggie, walked nervously to Troy. "Keep this little _bitch_ in line, would ya?" Jane crossed her arms and scowled at him. "Who is she? And what's all over her? She smells like shit. I thought women were supposed to smell like roses or vanilla or something."

"I don't fuckin' know who she is. Fuckin' bitch won't talk to anyone. Just get her to calm the _fuck_ down and go t' sleep." He looked to Jane, narrowing his eyes. "A-alright, I'll try." Reggie agreed. Troy left, cursing under his breath while Reggie headed towards Jane. "Look, you need to behave, or we'll all get in trouble." He told her. Jane stared up at him, puffing her chest out and trying to look intimidating. "_Fuck. Off_." Reggie stared at her, stunned as she walked away from him. The other two men gaped at her as she went to sit in a corner.

"Damn Reg, you're real smooth with th' ladies, huh?" The old man joked, elbowing him in the ribs. He and the dark-skinned man laughed. "Shut up, George."

Jane watched them and listened to their conversations from her place in the corner. It was almost winter, and the air was rapidly getting colder. She looked around for a blanket but found nothing. All she had to sleep on was the ground. The woman pulled her knees closer to her chest to protect her from the biting wind.

She wanted to cry. She'd been caught and thrown into a prison all for the hope of obtaining a screwdriver or at least a hammer. But she couldn't let these men think she is weak.

She sucked it up and laid her head on the cold, hard ground. Though she was uncomfortable, she was asleep within minutes. It had been a couple of years since she got to rest without worrying about walkers, so she decided to relish in it.


End file.
